Beliefs in Progress: the Beguins of Languedoc and the Construction of a New Heretical Identity
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Núm. 15 (Primavera 2020), 95-117 ISSN 2014-7023 BELIEFS IN PROGRESS: THE BEGUINS OF LANGUEDOC AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF A NEW HERETICAL IDENTITY Delfi I. Nieto-Isabel Institute for Research on Medieval Cultures (IRCVM). University of Barcelona e-mail: [email protected] Rebut: 19 desembre 2019 | Revisat: 20 abril 2020 | Acceptat: 30 abril 2020 | Publicado: 30 juny 2020 | doi: 10.1344/Svmma2020.15.7 Abstract In October 1319, the archbishop of Narbonne and the Dominican inquisitor Jean de Beaune surrendered to the secular arm the first members of the group of men and women known to historians as the Beguins of Languedoc. The execution that followed marked a turning point in the evolution of a religious movement that had legitimately developed for decades under the wing of the most radical branch of the Franciscan Order. In a matter of months, these individuals and their supporters where forced to adapt to clandestinity in order to survive. The aim of the present paper is to show that the Beguins of Languedoc were perceived by ecclesiastical authorities as a ‘new heresy’ whose novelty made it necessary to provide a working definition that helped to better prosecute it. It will also be discussed how some of the features of an alternative religious culture were built into the inquisitorial discourse and how the resulting ‘heresy’ was in fact co- constructed between inquisitors and religious dissenters. Paraules clau: Heresy, Beguins of Languedoc, Inquisitorial Records, Beliefs, Spiritual Franciscans Resum L’octubre de 1319, l’arquebisbe de Narbona i l’inquisidor dominicà Joan de Belna van lliurar al braç secular els primers membres del grup d’homes i dones coneguts pels historiadors com a beguins del Llenguadoc. L’execució que se’n va seguir, va marcar un punt d’inflexió en l’evolució d’un moviment religiós que s’havia desenvolupat legítimament durant dècades sota l’ala de la branca més radical de l’Orde Franciscà. En qüestió de mesos, aquests individus i els seus seguidors es van veure forçats a adaptar-se a la clandestinitat per sobreviure. L’objectiu d’aquest article és mostrar com les autoritats eclesiàstiques van considerar als beguins del Llenguadoc com una “nova heretgia”, la novetat de la qual els obligava a elaborar una definició pràctica que els ajudés a perseguir-la. També s’estudiarà com alguns dels trets del que de fet era una cultura religiosa alternativa es van incorporar al discurs inquisitorial i com l’“heretgia” resultant va ser el resultat d’una co-construcció duta a terme pels inquisidors i els propis dissidents religiosos. Key Words: Heretgia, beguins del Llenguadoc, registres inquisitorials, creences, franciscans espirituals SVMMA 2020 95 Beliefs in Progress: The Beguins of Languedoc and the Construction of a New Heretical Identity Delfi I. Nieto-Isabel In May 1329, Bernard Pastor, a merchant from the village of Marseillan, was brought before the Dominican inquisitor Henri de Chamayou accused of bearing false testimony.1 It seems that not long before, Bernard had voluntarily travelled to the episcopal court of Béziers, where Henri de Chamayou stayed, to bring him a letter informing the inquisitor that after the burning of a certain Beguin named Raimon Forner and his companions in Pézenas on 21 September 1321, the notary Raimon Berlet accessed the site of the execution “imbued of an evil spirit” and bent his knee adoring it, and grabbing the bones of the burned wrapped them up in a cloth as if they were the relics of saints. When some people arrived and asked him about what he was doing, the notary answered that he was gathering the bones of the burned martyrs, for they were better Christians than those who had condemned them, and were already in Paradise. In the letter to the inquisitor, Bernard Pastor begged him to put an end to such schismatic danger and provided the names of almost ten different witnesses. This circumstance, that is, a group of people who jointly decided to come forward and accuse someone of heresy providing detailed testimonies, was quite unusual. In fact, the inquisitor apparently felt that this was too good to be true and immediately initiated further enquiries by summoning said witnesses.2 It was soon established that both the letter and the depositions were the result of a well-thought conspiracy to incriminate the notary who, it seems, was not a very likeable person, for several of the witnesses mention their hate for him and their desire to see him lose his office and properties.3 The most interesting point that this particular case makes is that in trying to tarnish the reputation of the notary, the false accounts of Bernard Pastor and his friends reproduced to the letter not only practices but also arguments and even whole expressions in the vernacular that can also be found all over the trials against the “burned Beguins and Beguines”, better known to historians as the Beguins of Languedoc. In other words, while trying to frame Raimon Berlet, the men of Pézenas showed that they knew exactly how to build a believable picture of what a supporter of this group was supposed to look like. The present paper will outline the formation process of this recognisable identity. The aim is to show that the Beguins of Languedoc were perceived by ecclesiastical authorities as a ‘new heresy’ whose novelty made it necessary to provide a working definition that helped to better prosecute it. It will also be discussed how some of the features of an alternative religious culture were built into the inquisitorial discourse and how the resulting ‘heresy’ was in fact co-constructed between inquisitors and religious dissenters. 1 See Bibliothèque nationale de France, Collection Doat, Manuscript 27, fol. 204r: “Bernardus Pastoris de Marcelhano mercator habitator Pedenacii, diocesis Agathensis.” The manuscripts of the Collection Doat will hereinafter appear as Doat [Number]. The records of Bernard’s full culpa extend over Doat 27, fols. 204r–210r. 2 The depositions of the main conspirators, Guilhem Mascon, Guilhem Benet de Cazouls, Imbert de Roquefixade, Johan Mauri i Raimon Caplieu, can be found in Doat 27, fols. 210r–216r. 3 Doat 27, fol. 209v: “et desiderans quod ipse Raymundus condempnaretur ad perdendum officium suum, scilicet notariatus, et quod perderet magnam vel maiorem partem bonorum suorum.” The conspirators were all sentenced to strict life imprisonment in the inquisitorial gaol of Carcassonne, but first they were to be publicly exposed on a scaffold wearing yellow double crosses and red tongues—the mark of false witnesses—both in the square before the cathedral of Saint-Nazaire in Béziers and in the market square of their hometown, Pézenas; see Doat 27, fols. 241v–245r. 96 SVMMA 2020 Núm. 15 (Primavera 2020), 95-117 ISSN 2014-7023 1. The Early Years: Between Rebuke and Rebellion In 1299, the archbishop of Narbonne, Gilles Aycelin, summoned a provincial council that was to be held in Béziers. Among other issues, the council addressed the matter of a certain group of men and women, commonly known as Beguini seu Beguinæ, who publicly preached the end of the world and the advent of the Antichrist (MARTÈNE, DURAND 1717: IV, 226).4 The acts of the council described their activities as a superstitious cult—cultum superstitionis—that was promptly forbidden. Also according to the acts, said men and women made vows of virginity and chastity that they did not keep, dressed in a distinctive manner, celebrated secretive gatherings, preached, and tried to excuse this transgression by claiming that they were not preaching but merely talking about God to comfort each other. Most authors see the group mentioned in the acts of the provincial council of Béziers as unquestionably connected to the positions of the controversial Franciscan theologian Peter of John Olivi.5 The text does not mention Olivi, whose writings were condemned in a general chapter of the Franciscan Order held in Lyon that same year, and neither does it explicitly refer to the Friars Minor, only hinting at the involvement of some members of a certain “praiseworthy order.” However, the presence of Beguines in the area of Narbonne is documented since at least the 1280s, and the connections between beguinæ and the Spiritual branch of the Franciscan Order were not new either.6 Olivi’s claim that King Charles II of Naples was afraid that his eloquence might inbeguiniri his sons—the princes held hostage by King Pere III of Aragon—further hints at the close ties between both spiritual contexts (DENIFLE, EHRLE 1885–1887: vol. 3, 539). Thus, the mention of the Beguini seu Beguinæ in the acts of Béziers is probably the earliest documentary evidence related to the group later known as the Beguins of Languedoc.7 4 It is important to note that, despite the fact that the Dominican inquisitor Bernard Gui would much later claim that these groups called themselves Poor Brethren of Penitence of the Third Order of St Francis, this denomination does not seem to have been widespread. In contrast, the terms Beguin and Beguine were not only commonly used by ecclesiastical authorities —sometimes as a slur— but also, and most importantly, by these men and women and their sympathizers long before they became a persecuted movement. 5 Both Raoul Manselli and Louisa Burnham think it likely that the men and women censured in the council of 1299 were Olivi’s followers (MANSELLI 1959: 41; BURNHAM 2008: 34). In turn, David Burr, strongly inclined to believe this claim, also discusses other possibilities that involve a not so immediate connection; cf. BURR 2001: 92–93. 6 For instance, in 1288, among the thirty people summoned by the archiepiscopal court to testify in the case of a certain visionary called Rixendis of Narbonne, three women were described as Beguines (THÉRY 2008: 63–90).